Every Romantic Cliché Involving the Sea
by Dex Miller
Summary: A oneshot set in the moments after Joey and Charlie talk in the car. A Jarlie fic.


**Pairing:** Jarlie (aka Charley/Joey) this means femslash, though I'm not warning you of that fact. Seeing as you clicked on this story I gather you have no issue with it. And if you do, I'm not really interested in hearing about it, just kindly mash that little arrow in the top left corner – y'know, the 'back' button, and you shall be redirected to fiction of your liking.

**Disclaimer:** Me? In possession of Home and Away? I wish. If that were the case it'd be called "Joey and Charlie" (and Away?)

But in lieu of my non-existent ownership, I bring you fanfiction. (Re: All characters/ story/ ideas of H&A are sadly not mine, they belong to the people who own it).

**A/N: **And apologies should any errors be caught. I wrote this on a whim at 3:30am when I should have been sleeping (pff. Sleep? Who needs it?). Oh, and if you have not seen the clip of that this is based on, I suggest heading to youtube soon incase it's removed. Plus who _doesn't _want to see Jarlie earlier than scheduled? :D

~xXx~

"Yes… I want to be with you."

Joey felt her head swimming, her heart pounding painfully in her chest as if she was back on the boat that fateful afternoon. The afternoon Charlie had fled from her, and the afternoon that had set into motion the painful, and frightening, and confusing confluence of events leading to this very moment.

This very moment, Joey observed with amusement, which was _anything_ but painful.

Charlie's calloused, yet still unimaginably soft hand rested, grasping Joey's left, and she, in turn, kept her forearm pressed to her side to stop it from trembling while her right wove deeper into the hair of the woman facing her.

The woman she loved, who also loved her.

Charlie wanted to be _with_ her.

Charlie _wanted_ to be with her.

Charlie wanted to be with _her_.

No matter how often it was internally repeated, Joey could hardly begin to believe that simple fact.

She lifted her gaze to Charlie, whose eyes were full of apprehension and fear. Apprehension and fear that could be made out not only in those blue eyes, but also in the crease of her brow and the downturned corners of her mouth.

But discernable in the face of the police officer, Joey noted, was something else. The way she looked right back at her, and shifted her head so it rested easily in the younger woman's palm and unconsciously squeezed their hands tighter together, spoke volumes.

And the fact that Charlie leaned forward as she did, for a kiss, screamed those volumes to the sky.

Joey felt like her senses had been peeled away and left exposed as heat prickled at the back of her neck, and her ears rang against the pressure filling her head.

Fire shot under the younger woman's skin when Charlie slipped her hand off of Joey's, and grasped lightly at her wrist. Their kisses were chaste, both women unwilling to push the other beyond emotional capacity, nerves frayed from the past weeks, and declaration of love or not, too fast too soon would have nothing but disastrous results.

Their kisses were chaste, but they lasted.

~xXx~

No words were spoken minutes later. Seven of the most glorious minutes, Joey concluded as she craned her neck upwards to glance at the luminous numbers on the dashboard, that she had ever experienced. It felt as if hours had passed, yet blurred together like seconds.

After those seven, glorious minutes, both women had parted, foreheads together as they regained their composure, both sets of eyes bright with unshed tears. Tears of _what _exactly was uncertain, but Joey had the suspicion, as Charlie gently leaned over and pressed her soft lips to one cheek stopping a tear in its path, and lifting her hand to the other cheek to catch a second on the pad of her thumb, that there _was_ no singular emotion at work.

Love. Fear. Apprehension or longing.

It didn't matter. Not one little bit.

By unspoken agreement, they both reclined the carseats, Joey shifting sideways, the parking gear jamming into her ribs, so that Charlie could lean against her, Joey's right arm wrapping around her shoulders, the left was resting on Charlie's waist.

Charlie the police officer, nay, Senior Constable, rarely showed weakness at work, nothing but professional on the job.

But now she buried her head in Joey's shoulder as her tears flowed freely and silently. Her hand clenched desperately at the younger woman's shirt as she held herself afloat in the wave of emotions cascading through her.

~xXx~

Seven more minutes passed and Joey quietly inquired if she would like to return to the house. People would be wondering where she had rushed off to in such as hurry. But Charlie, light eyes now dry, wordlessly shook her head, placing it back down in the junction of Joey's shoulder and neck.

"I want to stay here… With you, just for a bit." Charlie whispered in the deafening silence of her vehicle, and placed a light kiss under Joey's jaw.

Joey softly smiled down at the woman she loved.

Who also loved her.

"Right." She whispered back, tightening her hold as the chilly breeze off the ocean swept in through the open windows.

~xXx~

The waves crashed against the dark shore, and Joey could not help but think of every romantic cliché involving the sea. Her love for the now-slumbering woman was boundless, unfathomable, powerful and all consuming. It would break down mountains and carve through landscapes, and as long as she was with Charlie, her Charlie. It would be just as endless.


End file.
